Notes and DocumentsSeptember 8, 1900:An Account by a Mother to Her DaughtersEdited by W. MAURY DARST*Amid the confusion following the destructive hurricane of Sep-tember 8, 1900oo, Mrs. John Focke, wife of a prominent Galvestoncotton factor, took time to write to two of her daughters who wereaway for the summer in Germany. Profoundly moved by the disasterwhich had struck her city, Mrs. Focke intermingled personal accountswith reports that she heard from her husband and friends. Her twoletters contained information that the two young ladies would wantto know concerning the safety of their family and friends.Six thousand persons died in the storm's fury. Property loss wasestimated at $25,000,000. Water, electrical, and gas facilities weredestroyed, and the city's transportation services were heavily dam-aged. A fourteen-foot tide, accompanied by winds up to 1i 20 milesper hour, swept across the island. In its path more than 2,600 structureswere devastated.'Accurate and sensational accounts both followed the disaster. Bookswere published.' A newsreel photographer came to Galveston torecord on film the destruction of the fourth largest city in Texas."Mrs. Focke was aware that her letters would reach her daughters*W. Maury Darst teaches history at Galveston Community College.'Clarence Ousley (ed.), Galveston in zgoo (Atlanta, 1goo), 17, 23, 26, 3o.2Helpful magazine articles are Edwin Muller, "The Galveston Flood," North AmericanReview, CCXLVI (Winter, 1938), 331-340; Walter Stevens, "The Story of the GalvestonDisaster," Munsey's Magazine, XXIV (December, 1900), 334-352; John Thomason, Jr.,"Catastrophe in Galveston," American Mercury, XLV (October, 1938), 228-233. Someslightly sensational books are John Coulter, The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror(Chicago, 1900); Murat Halstead, Galveston: The Horrors of a Stricken City (Chicago,1900oo); and Paul Lester, The Great Galveston Disaster (Galveston, 1900oo). The most ac-curate of the books published following the storm is Ousley's Galveston in goo.Another reliable work is John Edward Weems, A Weekend in September (New York,1957). An informative newspaper article appears in the Houston Daily Post, SeptemberSo, 1900.'Reference is to Albert E. Smith of the Vitagraph Company, Hollywood, California.Smith later wrote a book, Two Reels and a Crank (Garden City, New York, 1952), inwhich he included a chapter on the Galveston storm.